Maro Itoje a global star in the making
Even the realisation their long overdue victory over France had just handed the title to England did nothing to dampen their spirits.
Irish rugby supporters may be feeling a little flat at the moment given the various disappointments experienced at provincial and international level this season but, if anything, they have been spoilt with success on both fronts for over a decade.
The Scottish rugby public has had little or nothing to lift the comparable gloom but at least last season’s Guinness Pro 12 victory for the Glasgow Warriors drew a line in the sand with a first piece of rugby silverware garnered in the professional era.
That offered hope for the future.
Going so close to making the World Cup semi-final in October only served to whet the competitive appetite even more but unfortunately Scotland were put back in their box after disappointing, if close fought, defeats to England and Wales in the opening two rounds of this campaign.
Their third round win over Italy in Rome, while both necessary and welcome, was devalued somewhat by Ireland’s thrashing of the Azzurri in Dublin last Saturday and, as a consequence, to have any credibility, they simply had to follow that win up with another victory over the French.
The manner of that success in an enthralling contest served to make the achievement even more noteworthy.
In the recent past Scotland would have struggled to close out games like that but, despite being but under increasing pressure from the ever willing French in the final quarter, the Scots found a way to win.
That makes them an even more difficult opponent when the arrive in Dublin.
Ireland have been put on notice.
Vern Cotter has made big strides with this squad since his arrival but hadn’t been rewarded with results in the big games until now.
Having been stuffed by his good mate Joe Schmidt in their first international head-to-head last season, he, along with all on the Scottish squad, will be intent on finishing off this tournament on a high.
In Willem Nel, Jonny and Richie Gray, John Hardie and Josh Strauss, Scotland have some competitive and influential forwards while Stuart Hogg has developed into a serious talent.
It’s hard to believe he’s still only 23 and, with 43 caps under his belt, is on course to becoming a great of Scottish rugby.
The real winner from Sunday’s game however is Eddie Jones and England.
Already, in his first three months in charge, he has gone one better than Stuart Lancaster by winning the championship for the first time since Martin Johnson delivered in 2011.
Lancaster was very unfortunate to finish up in the runners-up slot in each of his four seasons in charge and Jones has already surpassed that achievement.
With that pressure removed, his squad travel to Paris with a Grand Slam available as an additional bonus.
Jones has had a big influence on this English squad in his short period at the helm.
He actively encourages the belligerent, in your face, approach which Lancaster spent so much time eradicating. Jones thrives in the “nobody likes us but we don’t care” attitude.
He will deliver big time for England but when his time is up, regardless of the level of success he achieves, they will be happy to see the back of him.
However, he is exactly what this England side need right now and the players, having been sanitised for so long, are thriving under his watch.
Who knows, the Ash Splash could even have been back in vogue only for a suspension to thwart Chris Ashton’s return to England colours.
Along with re-establishing England’s traditional set-piece strength with a re-emphasis on the scrum and the maul, Jones also appears to be in the right place at the right time to avail of, and preside over, the emergence and development of an exceptional rugby talent in fledgling second row in Maro Itoje.
This guy was destined to play for England given his heroics for their U20 side but Jones is now set to reap the benefit of this prodigious talent.
Refusing to accede to requests for media interviews after his debut, on the basis that he had achieved nothing in the game yet, I have no doubt he was sending a message to a future England captain.
After that exceptional performance for a 21-year-old lock against Wales on Saturday, best of luck to Eddie in keeping the media at bay. The genie is well and truly out of the bottle.
Itoje’s exceptional athleticism has the capacity to redefine the role of the second row with the perfect amalgam of blind side wing forward and ball winning lock.
His line-out work is very impressive: he possesses the natural spring that makes the lifter’s role so much easier and enables him to become airborne quicker than opponents.
His ability to compete for turnovers in the tackle is up there with the best openside flankers while his ball carrying and ability to step and offload was highlighted in the build up to Anthony Watson’s try against Wales.
In years to come, I suspect I’ll be able to boast I was there when he won his first cap for England, as a replacement back row against Italy in Rome.
England’s scrum didn’t appear compromised in any way either given that Itoje doesn’t carry any massive bulk and his partnership with George Kruis has been the most balanced and effective in the championship.
Joe Launchbury will find it difficult to win back his starting place in that company and with Courtney Lawes also contending in the second row, England are building serious depth in a key sector.
This win over Wales will do little to appease the pain of their World Cup exit at the pool stage and it may be some time before England are presented with the opportunity of hosting another tournament, regardless of the success they made in making it such a memorable event in so many ways.
Winning the Triple Crown against Wales was almost treated with disdain by Eddie Jones who has his sights set on far bigger prizes, starting with a Grand Slam to add to the championship title.
He would have approved of the, almost dismissive, reaction shown by his captain Dylan Hartley when receiving the Triple Crown plate after blowing Warren Gatland’s men away in the opening hour last weekend.
You suspect under Jones, England are heading in only one direction. If European club rugby is on track towards becoming the sole preserve of the French, the international domain in northern hemisphere rugby looks primed for an English takeover.
Hopefully Joe Schmidt will have something to say about that but I fear, under the brash Aussie, a sleeping giant has not only been awoken but is preparing to make its presence felt.
